Giant Improper Ferroelectricity in the Ferroaxial Magnet CaMn7O12

In rhombohedral CaMn7O12, an improper ferroelectric polarization of magnitude 2870 mu Cm-2 is induced by an incommensurate helical magnetic structure that evolves below T-N1 = 90 K. The electric polarization was found to be constrained to the high symmetry threefold rotation axis of the crystal structure, perpendicular to the in-plane rotation of the magnetic moments. The multiferroicity is explained by the ferroaxial coupling mechanism, which in CaMn7O12 gives rise to the largest magnetically induced, electric polarization measured to date.